10 of the spookiest moments in non-spooky games

In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s spooky season - and it’s the perfect time to jump into your favourite horror titles like this year’s excellent Resident Evil 2 Remake that featured on The First Hour.

But what if horror games aren’t for you, but you fancy something to send shivers down your spine regardless? We’ve put together some of the moments that creeped us out, made us jump, or both in games we weren’t expecting them to.

Let us know if we’ve missed any in the comments below, and be sure to let us know if you’ve experienced any of these on our list.

Batman Arkham Knight - Meeting Man-Bat

Doctor Robert Kirkland Langstrom is a brilliant scientist with a chilling secret - at night, he becomes the feral Man-Bat, a half breed that’s the stuff of nightmares. Throughout the first third of Arkham Knight we find crime scenes he’s left behind, but it’s not until one fateful moment that we meet the beast.

Grappling to a rooftop in Arkham Knight is as common as reloading in a shooter, but on one terrifying occasion you’ll be met with the snarling Man Bat on the top of a building. It’s an impressively scary moment in a franchise that often dabbles in the creepy.

Honourable mention: In Arkham Asylum, Batman receives a dose of Scarecrow’s “fear toxin” before entering a morgue. Therein he finds the bodies of his parents, and things get progressively creepier - and weirder - from there.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Bottom of the Well

Ocarina of Time is rightly regarded as one of Link’s finest adventures, but there’s one section that many people will have not so fond memories of.

At the bottom of a well, in amongst invisible walls, huge pitfalls and more traps, there’s a monstrosity called the Dead Hand. It’s a white and red creature, surrounded by hands on stalks, and is the stuff of nightmares.

This mini-dungeon is optional, but the “Lens of Truth” it can earn you is very helpful for the late-game - so it’s worth doing.

Half-Life 2 - Ravenholm

If a game spends a fair portion of its campaign telling you not to go somewhere, there’s a very good chance that you’ll end up there.

Ravenholm is one such place, a festering nest of shambling monsters and head crabs, alongside a lone survivor that’s set traps everywhere just to make things a little trickier.

It doesn’t help that there’s not a great deal of light, so you’ll find yourself bumbling through all sorts of hazards and enemies. Oh, and there are plenty of dead humans hung from the rafters too.

It’s not top of our holiday destinations, let’s put it that way.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - PT References

(Compilation credit: Atty)

Remember PT? Of course you do, Kojima’s cancelled horror collaboration with Guillermo Del Toro was the stuff of nightmares, focusing on a terrifying ultra-realistic hallway that saw the protagonist loop ever deeper into lunacy.

Of course, that “playable teaser” never got to become the Silent Hills game it was intended to, but it did seep into Kojima’s final project at Konami.

The news recording about a family killed by their deranged patriarch that plays throughout PT can be heard on radios at certain points in the Phantom Pain, while one of the game’s many cassette tapes also plays the Silent Hills demo’s soundtrack.

Early footage showed Solid Snake deploying a decoy of Lisa (the ghost from PT) to scare enemies, but there’s even been reported sightings of the ghost in one area. Terrifying.

Metal Gear Solid - Psycho Mantis

Is there anything scarier than a virtual character being able to “read” you as a person? That’s the question posed by the first Metal Gear Solid’s legendary Psycho Mantis boss battle in a second appearance on this list by the iconic franchise.

When players begin the fight, the masked psychic reads your save data. Neat trick, but so what? It’s only when you’re battling that you realise he’s countering every single one of your moves with ease. He knows what you’re going to do before you do.

This being a Kojima’s title, the solution is as meta as you’d imagine - plugging your controller into the second port on your PlayStation 1 will mean he’s unable to read your mind, but this still feels like an incredible moment in gaming all these years on.

Pokémon Red and Blue - Lavender Town

Pokémon titles have always made peace with the fact that your critters are battling each other by explaining that they don’t die in battle, they faint.

In Lavender Town, things are a little different. The town’s centrepiece is a huge Pokémon graveyard, full of headstones and tributes to fallen Pokémon. Pair that with wandering ghosts in Pokemon Tower and the incredibly unsettling theme song and you’ve got a town you’ll want to leave as soon as you can.

There’s a fan theory, too, that the player’s rival character is there to mourn their Raticate - which appears in early battles and then stops appearing once you get to Lavender Town.

Lavender Town's spookiness has also been the basis of a 'creepypasta' that claims multiple children who played the original Pokémon games fell ill or even committed suicide after visiting Lavender Town.

Fallout 4 - Dunwich Borers

There’s something already unsettling about being one of the last people alive, but Fallout 4 managed to make players feel even more uncomfortable if they find this abandoned mine.

Early suggestions hint at poor safety protocols and processes, but more digging pun intended) reveals a supernatural plot with no clear goal. That said, there’s a huge face made of silver that can be found in the bottom of the area - so maybe they were digging it up.

Skyrim - With Friends Like These

Sticking with Bethesda games, this Skyrim quest is something truly special. One quest (Innocence Lost) requires you to assassinate an abusive headmistress on behalf of a boy trying to summon the mysterious Dark Brotherhood.

Some time later, a courier delivers a note with a black handprint (the Dark Brotherhood’s calling card) with the letters “We Know”. Players can continue along their way, but when they go to sleep they’ll awaken in the Brotherhood’s captivity - with the chance to join them.

Thief (2015) - Moira Asylum

Thief’s 2015 reboot was a disappointment in most accounts, but those looking for a shiver down their spine would find plenty to enjoy in Moira Asylum.

The Asylum is full of ghosts and other metaphysical presences, but remains almost silent. Protagonist Garrett creeps from room to room, trying to avoid an almost-invisible spirit called The Night Warden who can kill in one hit. Chilling.

Elite Dangerous - Thargoids

Elite Dangerous is a game about forging your own path across an insanely big virtual galaxy, with opportunities for smugglers, pirates, cargo ships and more. Because of the size of this galaxy, it can be easy to feel like you’re alone.

Except, as fans found out, they aren’t.

Thargoids, the long-running hostile aliens of the Elite franchise, made their appearance some time ago in some style. Players were pulled from the game’s version of Hyperspace, their ship and its AI malfunctioning. With their ship unable to move, a huge alien ship scans it - with players powerless to resist.

The mystery is still being unravelled two years on, with further sightings, but nothing beats this kind of entrance.

What moments have scared you the most in a game that you didn't expect? Where are the creepiest locations or strangest NPCs you've encountered? Let us know in the comments!